


Gabriel

by WrathoftheStag (Mwuahna)



Series: Parenthood, Please! [6]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Future Fic, Grown Up Beep Boop, Jack and Bitty as parents, Jack and Bitty's Children, M/M, Parenthood, Taking Chances, first crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 10:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10555108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mwuahna/pseuds/WrathoftheStag
Summary: Love, who needs it?Giselle "Beep Boop" Bittle-Zimmermann wonders as she's hearing the story about how her parents fell in love.  A past and future fic where we meet Beep Boop's potential love interest.  Part of theParenthood, Please!series where Jack and Bitty are married and have two children.





	

Beep Boop hated driving in downtown Providence. Hated it. The main reason was that parking was always pain in the ass. Still, she had promised.

“The book will be on hold, BB,” Jack had told her. “I think today’s the last day they’re holding it. Are you sure you can make it?”

“Yes, papa. Don’t worry.”

Beep Boop circled around the block twice and then saw someone’s brake lights go on. 

“Thank god!” she said as she turned on her blinker and waited for them to exit the space.

She entered The Book Table and walked up to the customer service desk. A young man around her age, tall and burly, stood behind the counter.

“Welcome to The Book Table. How may I bring books into your life?” he said, voice completely deadpan.

Beep Boop laughed, “Oh my! Well now. Um, you have a book on hold.”

The man, Gabriel his name tag read, said, “Last name?”

“Zimmermann.”

“Zimmermann?”

“Yes.”

“In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette?”

“That’ll do it.”

“A big James Gordon Bennett fan are you?”

She smirked, “Yes, he’s amazing.”

“Really?”

“I’m kidding. I don’t know him.”

Gabriel flipped the book over and took the sticky note off the cover and re-read the name on it.

“You don’t look like a Jack.”

Beep Boop raised an eyebrow, “Well that’s because I’m not a Jack.”

“Are you taking someone else’s book?”

She leaned against the counter, “Are you always this problematic? A minute ago you were offering to bring books into my life.”

“A minute ago you were claiming to be someone you’re not.”

Beep Boop folded her arms in front of her, “It’s for my dad. He asked me to pick it up. I can show you my ID if you want.”

“I believe you… against my better judgement, but you seem honest-ish.”

“Honest-ish? Whew! Thanks. I can go on with my day. Can I pay?”

“I don’t know. Can you?”

Beep Boop smiled, in spite of herself, and handed her debit card to Gabriel.

“Thank you,” he said smiling at the register.

“Well, you’re welcome,” she said. 

“Would you like a bag, Not Jack?”

“I think I can manage without.”

“Look at you. A friend of the environment. Your father must have raised you right.”

“Yeah, they both did.”

Gabriel smiled, handed the receipt and the book to Beep Boop.

“Enjoy. Or you can pass that message onto your dad on my behalf. It’s actually a really good book.”

“Is it?”

“Yes, it’s a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most unforgiving territory on Earth.”

“Haha. Lord, is that right?”

“Yes. No. I’m not sure. I just read that off the back cover right now.”

She raised an eyebrow, “You think you’re funny don’t you?”

“Some people say I am, but I don’t believe everything I hear.”

“Thanks for the book,” she said with a small smile and turned to walk away.

“Wait,” Gabriel called out.

“Yes?”

“If your dad likes obscure history books, I can recommend some. I’m -- I’m getting my Ph.D. in history.”

“Really?”

Gabriel nodded, looking shy for the first time during their entire interaction. “I mean, not to be braggy or anything…”

“Thanks, Gabriel. I’ll see you around.”

“Feel free to stop by anytime. You know, if I haven’t started my comedy tour yet by then.”

Beep Boop smiled and walked out the door. She turned and saw Gabriel looking, so she waved. As she made her way to her car, she stopped and noticed the pep in her step, realizing she’d never felt it before.

Her mind then began to drift to one night during her childhood, long ago…

**+++**

There weren’t many things that frightened Giselle Bittle-Zimmermann. Her grand-père had once declared that she had a spine of steel. Being tossed into a jump during a figure skating lesson by her daddy? No big whoop. Playing hockey with her uncle Rans? Not even. Still...a thunderstorm was pretty unnerving.

“Papa! Daddy!” she cried out.

Jack and Bitty entered eight-year-old’s Beep Boop’s bedroom, on their way to their bedroom. 

“What’s up, little lady?” Bitty asked as he sat on the side of her bed, and stroked her hair. Jack turned on the lamp on her dresser.

“The storm is freaking me out!” she said.

Jack leaned against the doorjamb, folding his arms across his chest. “There’s nothing to worry about, BB. It’ll pass soon.”

Bitty leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“Were you on your way to sleep?” she asked.

“Mmm-hmm,” Bitty replied.

“Were you and Papa smooching?” she said with a smile.

“Not yet,” Jack replied with a smirk.

“Well, before you start _smooching_ can you tell me a story to help me sleep?”

“Tell you a story? It’s late, Ms. B.”

Just then, Vincent pushed his way through the door, crawling in between Jack’s legs and toward Bitty. His hair stuck up all over his head, and his eyes were sleepy.

“What’s going on in here? Y’all woke me up,” he said with a croaky voice.

“Daddy is going to tell me a story, Fives.”

Vincent jump up toward his sister’s bed. She pulled the sheets back, and he climbed in as he yawned and said, “I wanna hear.”

“Oh dear, now I have two sleepy heads who want to hear a story? Fine.”

“You’re too easy, Bits,” Jack laughed. 

“What do you want to hear?”

Beep Boop said, “I want to hear how you and papa fell in love.”

Jack said, “Again?”

Vincent snuggled against his sister and said, “We always want to hear that story. You’re so funny in it, papa.”

Bitty laughed, as Jack threw his hands up and said, “Funny? What? Well, now I want to hear it again. I don’t think I was funny.” 

Jack walked over and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed.

Bitty raised his eyebrows, “I wouldn’t say funny haha, but you were pretty funny about showing your affection, Jack Laurent Zimmermann.”

Jack playfully swatted at Bitty with a warm smile on his face.

“Well, when I first started at Samwell--”

“I’m going to Samwell!” Beep Boop yelled out.

“If that’s what you’d like to do,” Jack said.

“May I continue?” Bitty asked.

“Sorry, daddy.”

“As I was saying, when I first started at Samwell your papa was not the friendliest person on the team. I was afraid to talk to him because he was the captain and so serious.”

“Like Kocoum,” Vincent said as he pointed at Jack. Beep Boop laughed.

“He gave his captain speech to the entire team the first night we all met, and then do you know what the very first thing he said to me was?”

“Eat more protein!” Jack, Beep Boop, and Fives yelled out. 

Bitty smiled at his little family, “Yes, and he got me so angry. I couldn’t figure out what I had done to make him act so mean toward me.”

Jack reached out and grabbed Bitty’s hand, as Bitty continued.

“And then, as time passed we began to spend more time together. Your papa helped me with my checking problem, we played so well together, we’d sit on the bus together during roadies, and your papa would tell me about the latest book he was reading, and I’d tell him about baking and jam and pies. We’d have coffee together and talk and walk, walk and talk. And one day, I noticed that I started looking forward to seeing your papa so much. He somehow went from being my captain to my friend to someone I realized I was in love with.”

Beep Boop smiled, and felt her heart beat faster. What a wonderful, terrible thing love sounded like. She loved her parents’ love, but she didn’t think it’s anything she’d ever want. It sounded awful with all the waiting and hoping and nerves!

“I’d find reasons to get close to him, and then I noticed that I didn’t need to find a reason because your papa was already always there. Before I would try to find him, he’d be there next to me. If I needed help reaching something from a shelf, your papa was asking me what I needed. If I was walking down the street, your papa was jumping over snowbanks asking if I wanted coffee. If I was cold, your papa was there giving me his jacket. But I didn’t know that papa liked me...”

Jack interrupted and said, “I was too scared to tell him. I couldn’t even tell myself.”

Bitty and Jack locked eyes for a few beats, didn’t say a word, then Bitty smiled and kept going. 

“So when your papa and Uncle Poopy graduated from Samwell, I thought that was it. I wouldn’t be seeing much more of him. I was heartbroken and crying and so very, very sad. I went back to the Haus and started fixing up your Uncle Chowder’s room and that’s when your papa came running in.”

“And he kissed you!” Fives said with much enthusiasm.

“Yes, he kissed me and that's when I knew he liked me as much as I liked him. It was one of the happiest days of my life.”

Jack was beaming and then looked at the kids and wagged his eyebrows, “Your daddy was so cute. He was so surprised -- and I think I was, too. If it hadn’t been for your grand-père, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to go back and look for your daddy. And how terrible would that have been?”

Bitty leaned over and kissed Jack on the cheek.

“Ugh! You’re always smooching!” Beep Boop groused.

Bitty laughed and said, “Young lady, maybe one day you’ll find someone you want to smooch all the time. And they’ll make you laugh and you’ll want to talk to them all the time. And then I’ll be razzing you.”

“Never,” she said. “I only want to kiss the ice. That’s about it for me!”

Jack and Bitty laughed, then Bitty said, “You are your father’s daughter.”

Jack rose from the bed, “All right, the storm isn’t as bad anymore. It’s time for you two to get to sleep.”

**+++**

Beep Boop continued walking to her car, put the book in the passenger seat and glanced back toward The Book Table. Inside she could see Gabriel re-shelving some books and doing a little dance, presumably (she hoped) to some music playing in the shop. 

_You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take_ she heard in her head.

“Seriously?!”

She laughed as she watched Gabriel dance a little jig. Beep Boop took a deep breath, locked her car and began walking back toward the bookstore.

**Author's Note:**

> Up next, we go back in time to the story of Vincent "Fives" Bittle-Zimmermann's birth.
> 
> Come say hi [over on Tumblr](http://wrathofthestag.tumblr.com/).
> 
>  _Check, Please!_ characters created by the wonderful [Ngozi](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/).


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